Eternal Harvest: The Legacy of American Bombs in Laos

Being a Laotian immigrant myself, I've always wanted to learn more about my home country. I grew up in America and heard my parents talk about the provinces mentioned in this book and wondered what life was like "back home." I loved the details in this book and the way the author described the ways of life regardless of how bleak life is for these unfortunate victims. I found myself nodding at the mentions of culture and Laotian words used in the book because it was the culture I grew up with in a Laotian household, even in the U.S. The gorgeous photographs in this book contributed to the storytelling and captured the perils of the life among UXO's (unexploded ordnance). In fact, there are LOTS of photos, so much so that it made the book heavier than it looks! I was cannot begin to describe how immersed I was in this book - I read it in 2 days. Perhaps it was the history of my people that was so captivating, or perhaps it was because "Eternal Harvest" was so well written. Either way, I learned A LOT in this book and it made me yearn to help - it was that moving to me. If you're interested in learning more about the effects of the Secret War on people post-war, I highly recommend picking up this book.

Unfortunately I know too much about American bombs in Laos because I was there while it was going on. This is a thorough, dense and well researched book with many sources, but the authors also have been there and talked to people and seen the craters that pock-mark much of Laos. In spite of the tragedy, the authors manage an objective look at the legacy of the tons of munitions, many of them still dangerous, that are still killing and maiming Laotians.There are many photos illustrating what they found. Anyone seriously thinking of starting a war should be forced to read this book.

This is an excellent book on describing the un-exploded war ordinance (UXO)the United States dropped over Laos during the Vietnam War. It describes how de-mining teams from several countries and some NGO's are slowly clearing the UXO from Laos; how the UXO, mainly 'bombies', still maim and kill people, mainly children, today. Other sources have estimated that the US dropped about 250,000,000 bombies, of which 1/3 did not explode on contact with the ground. These UXO.s are buried in the ground, are in treetops, and under houses. The bombies are set off by children picking them up, or by people building fires over them, or by farmers hitting while preparing their fields for planting. The book has many pictures, some quite graphic.

This is a true story about the remnants of the Vietnam war.However reader will soon realize, the book is a little anti war as well as anti American for the damage the bombings have done. This is based on the writing style of the author.I eventually got through the book but have developed some guilt for my contributions to this war.

A excellent account in photos and text of the legacy left behind by the US government in Laos. A must read for anyone with a compassionate heart for the wonderful people of Laos that are still dealing with the horrible mess that we left behind now 4 decades ago.

Another amazing book by Karen and Jerry (photos). A very down-to-earth history lesson on an important subject of which I knew little. Karen is a great story teller. I really enjoyed having her as my 'guide' through Laos. A must-read!

Eternal Harvest is an excellent book--well-researched, well-written, and well-supported through abundant photographs. In fact, it could almost be considered a long photo essay, except that the text is so detailed and carefully written. It includes a bibliography and an index, which will be very useful for anyone pursuing the subject of the US undeclared, secret bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War (1954-1975 according to the Encyclopedia Britannica web site). I did not find it easy to read in spite of the high quality of the writing itself. As a US citizen the facts of our decade-long bombing of subsistence farmers, and the continuing impact of our UXO (unexploded ordnance) reminds me that war does not end with politicians’ declarations of peace. (To exercise a cruel sort of logic, there was neither a beginning nor an end to the war in Laos. War was never declared.)Major US media don’t talk much about Laos today. However, even with US (and allies) bombing in the middle east, I doubt Laos has lost the distinction noted by Eternal Harvest’s author:“To this day, Laos remains per capita, the most heavily bombed country on earth. . . .the U.S. military and its allies dumped more than 6 billion pounds of bombs across the land—more than one ton for every man, woman and child. . .” (p.24).This occurred over nine years. It is estimated that “More than 80 million live submunitions” remained after the war (p. 24), killing 20,000 people (p. 27). Many of those killed were (and are) children.. It is important to note that Jerry Redfern’s photos are not of dead children or of blood and gore. Rather, they are sensitive photos documenting not only bombs that have been found, but also of the people of Laos and the countryside. Similarly Karen Coates focuses on facts and description, not on appeals to emotion.But grim as the story itself may be, it is not all bad. A small number of dedicated people from around the world (including the U.S.) are engaged alongside Laotian citizens in efforts to locate and disarm the remaining UXO. I am awed by the dedication and courage of these people. Advocacy groups are working to increase support for such efforts. U.S. funding for clearing the unexploded bombs increased to $14 million in 2014. I haven’t found a report on possible funding for 2015-16. Current information, including UXO news from countries other than Laos, can be found at the Eternal Harvest website, http://eternalharvestthebook.com/. The U.S. is not the only country to leave UXO at various locations. I have emphasized the U.S. role in part because it is by far the largest in volume, but also because as a U.S. citizen I feel the greatest responsibility for the actions of my own government.This review would be incomplete without offering a few constructive (I hope) criticisms. The font of the book, though clear, is very small, at least for this senior reader. The relationship of text to photos can be confusing. I resolved this by reading sections of the text and then going back to the photographs. Although a better layout would have been welcome, the positive side may be that the book is quite inexpensive considering the copious number of high quality black-and-white photos. As I wrote this review, I also found that the index was limited and that I could not locate in it topics I thought rather obvious.

The writing of bombs on life, limb and land. The life on bombs, the landing of the limbs.The life on land, the quiet of the book.....

after my 1st look in to the book. I am deeply impressed what I read and saw.I am in bomb disposal, and I am sure, that we will never be able to find the last UXO/UXB.Great, greatDieter Vierbach

Genocide in the 20th and the 21st century which the United States has been deeply involved in or committed by themselves still goes on.Here is an example.From June 1964 to March 1973, the United States dropped at least two million tons of bombs on the small, landlocked Southeast Asian country. That is the equivalent of one planeload every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, for nine years — more than was dropped on Germany and Japan during World War II.When the United States does something like that, they never forget to put something experimental which they will be able to see how effective it is later.Nealy 30 percent of the cluster bombs remain unexploded because they deliberately designed those to be like that.So very colorful, and even cute deadly bombs have still appealed to kids and kept demolishing those innocent lives since the United States ended the bombardment 40 years ago.U.S. Medias hardly mentioned it.This is a rare and important case done by Karen J. Coates and Jerry Redfern: ETERNAL HARVEST is the detailed report on how people in Laos have suffered.The reporting that they did was essentially grassroots reporting. They did it by traveling throughout the country from north to south and east to west, just going from village to village and asking people.

excellent